Broccoli
New Member
Greetings! I’m new to the site and new to sailing. This is such a great forum – I’ve learned a lot just from reading about other people’s experiences. My boyfriend and I got a Capri 14.2 a couple of weeks ago, and have been waiting for the right time/weather to take it out on the lake (in Austin, Texas.) After a series of bad weather and high wind days, we ran out of patience and took it out this morning for the first time, high winds – at least for a beginner - notwithstanding. Winds were about 10mph with gusts up to 14. The short of it – we survived just fine and are still speaking to each other. Success - yea!! Our adventure did raise a couple of questions. We used a rope that is tied to the top of the mast to hold up the clew end of the boom while rigging (I think this rope would be the forestay if we weren’t using a furling jib.) We thought we would disconnect the rope from the boom after we were out in the water and finished pulling the main sail up. Wrong. Once we were out, we realized that by doing so we would probably tip the boat over. So the forestay remained tied to the clew end of the boom. What do others with a furling jib do with the forestay?
Also - does anyone in Austin have a recommendation on a good place for newbies to launch on Lake Travis? We launched from Cypress Creek. Turns out that launching from a boat ramp up wind into a narrow cove is less than ideal. We’re thinking Windy Point is what we’ll try next. Also thinking about joining Austin Yacht Club. Any AYC members out there?
Also - does anyone in Austin have a recommendation on a good place for newbies to launch on Lake Travis? We launched from Cypress Creek. Turns out that launching from a boat ramp up wind into a narrow cove is less than ideal. We’re thinking Windy Point is what we’ll try next. Also thinking about joining Austin Yacht Club. Any AYC members out there?